JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hard Rock Cafe, now at the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Kapiolani Boulevard, will be relocating to a two-story site on Waikiki Beach Walk.

Hard Rock Cafe will stroll to Beach Walk

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Hard Rock Cafe is moving to a new $45 million retail complex being built in Waikiki, after nearly 20 years on the corner of Kapiolani Boulevard and Kalakaua Avenue.

The Orlando, Fla.-based restaurant chain plans to open in spring 2009 in the proposed 34,500-square-foot retail complex at 280 Beach Walk, being built by First Round Pacific LLC.

Hard Rock will occupy a 12,500-square-foot space in the two-story retail center. It is unclear what will be developed at the nearly 1-acre site of the existing restaurant, across from the Hawaii Convention Center.

Hard Rock Cafe has agreed to be the anchor tenant of a new $45 million retail complex being built in Waikiki.

The Orlando, Fla.-based restaurant chain plans to move from its current location on Kapiolani Boulevard across from the Hawaii Convention Center and into a 12,500-square-foot space in the proposed Waikiki retail center -- at 280 Beach Walk -- being built on the site of the former Hula Hut nightclub.

Center developer First Round Pacific LLC, which is awaiting government approvals to begin construction, expects Hard Rock to open in spring 2009, said project manager Cory Beall, vice president of the Beall Corp.

Hard Rock, which opened in July 1987, plans to announce the move Aug. 24 at a celebration commemorating its 20 years in business in Hawaii.

The company is negotiating to terminate a long-term lease with Aloha Securities & Investment Co., which owns the land beneath the restaurant.

Han P. Ching, president of Aloha Securities, declined to comment on what the landowner plans to do with the nearly 1-acre property. The land has an assessed value of $7 million, according to city records. A spokesman for Hard Rock International could not be reached for comment.

The proposed two-story center, totaling 34,500 square feet, is set to open next summer with eight tenants including Hard Rock. The developer expects to sign lease agreements with a number of national-brand tenants within the next three to six months.

"We haven't signed any tenants to leases yet, but are in discussions with exciting tenants that will complement Hard Rock," Beall said.

The developer bought the Waikiki property last summer for about $15.3 million. It is zoned resort commercial, with a height limit of 300 feet.

Hard Rock will occupy roughly 2,500 square feet on the ground floor of the center and 10,000 square feet on the second floor, which includes a 1,600-square-foot lanai, Beall said.